THE WORD OF GOD

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jn 1:1

AND THE WORD BECAME FLESH

“The conception and birth of Jesus Christ are in fact the greatest work accomplished by the Holy Spirit in the history of creation and salvation…”
Pope John Paul II, The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the World (#50)

“PRAYER, PROVIDENCE AND A PRO-LIFE JOURNEY”
THE STORY BEHIND “THE LIGHT OF LIFE”

Nellie Edwards is the artist of this wonderful painting entitled “The Light of Life”. After moving to North Dakota in 1996 she prayed “that God would allow her to somehow make a difference – to help build the Culture of Life on a wider scale somehow.”

Here in her own words:

“Soon, we started a family business, which we called ‘Mother of Eight Designs’, which we knew would help promote the Faith and Family. Six of our eight children assisted in reproducing my sculpted products and before long we were selling to stores across the country. The highlight of our achievements is the fact that Bishop James Sullivan (R.I.P.) of the diocese of Fargo, personally placed some of our Pro Life Ornaments into the hands of our beloved Pope John Paul…who immediately pronounced a blessing on ‘The Edwards Family’. It is evident to me, that this blessing has been a big part of the story behind the paintings.”

Nellie began to “receive public speaking invitations from civic and business groups and I saw it as an opportunity to give witness to my Catholic faith.” She found that the more she talked about faith – “the more enthusiastic the audience response”.

It was in 2005, when she encouraged four of her sons to start a tiling business, that Nellie also started a new venture. Using a PC tablet, which is computerized, she began by making print translations of some of her sculpted plaque and ornament designs but soon turned to using this technology to paint. Her first painting was of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

Nellie explains that soon after: ” I sensed I should paint an unborn child…I couldn’t think what sort of composition this would be, so I prayed for guidance. After about 2 weeks, I realized the unborn child would be Our Lord Jesus, in the womb of His Blessed Mother. I was afraid to attempt this but again, I could not get away from the idea. As with Kateri, I had no drawing to go by, nor visual aid…I simply started with the face of Mary and the composition seemed to develop almost organically. It was almost like watching someone else work.” The painting took nine months to complete.

Because of limited space I have only been able to summarize a small part of Nellie’s story. If you would be interested in contacting Nellie Edwards, or to view and perhaps purchase prints of her beautiful paintings click here.